A Brazilian-inspired café offering vegan treats in Neukölln…

Located on a tranquil street near the Bahnhof Neukölln, the red façade of Café Vux leaps out somewhat from the neighbouring grey buildings.

If that doesn’t grab your attention, the promises of ‘café, doces and salgados’ on the sign outside probably will.

Inside are two lounge-sized rooms, both smart and white like the exterior. The main room, illuminated naturally thanks to the large street-facing window, features an assortment of white and brown wooden tables and chairs, a wall covered with charming photos and paintings in a variety of frames, and a counter. The second room, just as bright, is slightly larger.

The first thing you’re likely to see when you walk in is the vitrine of cakes. Oh what handsome things they are! Colourful, fruity wedges, utterly devoid of eggs, milk or cream (and, in some cases, wheat) yet looking and tasting for all the world like ‘real’ cakes.

The cookies, brownies and waffles are similarly delicious, and coming here for a sweet treat and a latte (soy or rice milk only) or one of the many great teas is really justification enough for a visit to Vux.

The Brazilian-influenced exotica promised on the sign is found throughout the rest of the menu. There’s the fantastic bagels—which foam with fresh salad and sprouts and feature fillings like sun-dried tomato and hummus, seitan and lime, guava-jelly and – get this – ‘smoky-habanero-mango-sauce.’ And there’s the soups too, anything from sweet potato and pear, to pumpkin, manioc and coconut.

Still, that’s all fairly pedestrian compared to the café’s smoothie scene, where ingredients like açaí, maracujá, guava, cashew fruit, papaya and acerola cherry are combined to create the liquid equivalent to carnaval.

One of the best ways to try out a combination of these inventive dishes (and more) is at Vux’s notoriously delicious Sunday brunches (12-3pm).

Once you’re done, take a look around the area. The café is in the Böhmisches Dorf, or Bohemian Village area—a tiny town founded in 1737 that still stands relatively untouched in places.

You could continue the natural theme by starting your explorations in the pretty Körnerpark nearby, or the strollable Comenius Gardens, whose three-dimensional creations follow the work of Bohemian educationalist Johann Amos Comenius (1592 – 1670).

For more info, check out Vux’s website.